Fellows I have had an induction cook top in my home for 3 years its a top with 2 electric burners and 2 induction type and i can not remember the last time I used the electric part the induction is the best cooking surface I ever used.(Waiting for the new one for the bus)

H3JIM wrote about the inconvenience of special cook ware that is a true blessing for your health because

1 aluminum has been proved to be a major factor in Altzimers (no I do not sell cookware)

2 Teflon is so bad that it is being banned from cookware (where do you think the Teflon goes that comes off the pan)

If you guys do research you will find out why some beer companies are coating the insides of the cans.I told my husband about Keystone beer having this can but he will not drink it so i buy him miller in bottles.This will be a law in the near future 2010 that all aluminum cans be coated on the inside.

I know my beloved husband will not be the only one to try this (its a male thing) but if you buy a induction cook top please cut the top out of the can before you try to heat the pork n beans or soup on the induction top and you will not have to repaint your kitchen.

It is a great cook top use stainless or cast iron cookware and it works well and if you eat and drink healthy you will be around to help us spend your hard earned money Have a good evening and hope I didn't offend any one

Is there more than one kind of this range? If so, which one do I buy & why? Do they also make induction ovens? Should I buy one of those also? Can we still cook in cast iron? Are there any other mistakes I can make?

Thanks!! TOM

BTY, the reason I ask questions is I have already made the mistake of buying what I THOUGHT my wife wanted!

I got one for use in the bus and tried the stainless and worked very well. It works gaster than gas puts out no heat but will heat the pan well enough to burn the food on lower settings. I think it's great and use it all the time. and I am a man? Jerry

1 aluminum has been proved to be a major factor in Altzimers (no I do not sell cookware)

2 Teflon is so bad that it is being banned from cookware (where do you think the Teflon goes that comes off the pan)

3 If you guys do research you will find out why some beer companies are coating the insides of the cans.I told my husband about Keystone beer having this can but he will not drink it so i buy him miller in bottles.This will be a law in the near future 2010 that all aluminum cans be coated on the inside.

Lady Eagle -

Nah, you didn't offend anyone. Sorta created a challenge, tho! Some research on your comments comes up with the following:

Further research on this coating finds that it is virtually impervious to everything but a very thick surfuric acid bath, as is the inks used on the outside label. IOW, it won't come off the can once it's been applied in the manufacturing process.

As for the Keystone coating, according to Coors, the manufacturer, that was simply a marketing tool for this low-price brew. Couldn't find anything about a 2010 law, tho I tried. . .

OK, look, I have an induction cooktop, and love it dearly, and therefore also have a full set of ferrous cookware (All-Clad) that works with it. And I am all for selling everyone on the benefits of induction cooking, which primarily have to do with the energy efficiency of the technology and the higher degree of control versus radiant electric.

1 aluminum has been proved to be a major factor in Altzimers [SIC] (no I do not sell cookware)

No, it has not. It is speculated that aluminum might be a factor in Alzheimer's disease. And, for this reason, many people choose not to use it, and there is some pending legislation to reduce the exposure.

This is a particularly specious argument against using aluminum cookware (or beer cans, or airplane bodies, for that matter) that is primarily advanced by people or firms with an axe to grind -- often someone selling something made of plastic or steel.

Quote

2 Teflon is so bad that it is being banned from cookware (where do you think the Teflon goes that comes off the pan)

...

Also flatly untrue. TeflonŽ is, for all intents and purposes, inert, especially as concerns ingestion into the human body. I will gladly sit in front of you and eat a spoonful of it -- it passes through the body completely harmlessly. Again, an urban legend advanced primarily by people trying to sell you on the alternatives.

The fact is, TeflonŽ is no longer used in most cookware simply because other alternatives (fundamentally, more advanced versions of the same base polymers) are better at adhering to the cookware (getting TeflonŽ to stick to anything, including the pot, is an engineering challenge), and consumers prefer cookware that lasts longer. (Manufacturers prefer cookware that wears out and needs to be replaced, but not if consumers don't buy it in the first place.)

-Seanhttp://OurOdyssey.BlogSpot.com(who is not a chemist or chemical engineer, nor do I play one on TV, and I did not even stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night, but, c'mon -- these facts are easily verifiable with a mere five minutes of research)

Does All-Clad plate their stuff with gold? $75 for a saucepan? I probably paid that much for an entire set of pots and pans for my house. I'm not a fine chef and I can't hardly tell any difference between cooking with my inexpensive stuff and more expensive stuff.

I am liking the idea of induction for cooking, but not if I have to buy pans that cost as much as the stove. I like to keep a seperate set of pots and pans and dishes in the RV, but I certainly don't use the RV enough to justify anything too expensive.

I suppose there is something less expensive that will work too. I just don't want to want to use cast iron for weight and other reasons.

I am liking the idea of induction for cooking, but not if I have to buy pans that cost as much as the stove. I like to keep a seperate set of pots and pans and dishes in the RV, ...

I suppose there is something less expensive that will work too. ...

Brian,

Back when we were shopping for induction cookware, stainless was out of fashion and so All-Clad was about the only choice if you wanted a full set of pots in a variety of sizes. They are expensive, but they are also well made and will last a lifetime. The key was to buy the set rather than individual pieces, and wait until the one time during the year when they went on sale at Macy's.

Stainless is making a comeback now, and I expect that renewed interest in induction will cause the manufacturers to start paying attention to induction performance.

We got fed up with the fact that our All-Clad frying pan was not non-stick, and decided to replace it. When we shopped around, we discovered Farberware Millennium Stainless, which was sturdy and induction-capable for a lot less money than All-Clad. I think we bought it at Bed Bath & Beyond. (One nice thing about All-Clad -- I was able to sell our old one on eBay for as much as I paid for the Farberware.)

I still like my All-Clad, but I am just as happy with the Farberware. I suspect you could pick up every size you need in that brand.

When you go to buy cookware for your induction range, take a magnet with you to the store. If the magnet does not stick to the bottom of the pot, don't buy it. If the magnet sticks, the pan will definitely work well with induction. If the magnet does not stick, it might or might not work, and even if it does, it will not work as well. I find that with stainless, you can't tell just by looking, and you often can't tell by reading the labels either. When we forget our magnet, we just wander around the store until we find refrigerator magnets or some such. One time, we found a small peppermill with a magnet on it (for sticking it to your fridge, or whatever) that we liked so much we bought it -- it travels stuck to our microwave.

Incidentally, our induction "hob" is a "Mr. Induction" by Sunpentown. I think we paid $110 for it on-line several years ago. We keep it in a drawer and take it out when we need it -- at the time, the only built-in style hobs were over $600 per burner, and all the residential manufacturers in this country had abandoned induction -- you simply could not buy a consumer drop-in range with induction burners. I am glad to see that tide slowly turning.

In any case, we went with a two-burner Princess LP model for our built-in, on the theory that LP would be more efficient and economical with all the boondocking we do. I have to say that, if I were doing the bus again today, I would skip the LP altogether, and put in a two- or three-burner induction cooktop as my only stove. Eliminating the LP tanks, plumbing, safety valve/alarm, and venting requirements would be so worth it for the slightly larger battery capacity we would need. (The stove and the BBQ are the only things aboard that run on LP -- our heat is diesel and our fridge is electric.) And, while I always fancied myself a cook who prefers gas (I do almost all the cooking aboard Odyssey), after using the induction for three years, I have to say I like it just as much. In fact, there are some things (e.g. simmering, cooking rice) that the induction hob does much, much better than the gas range.

My stove/range is also the only thing that would use LP in my bus which is why I want to go electric for the stove. We do cook a lot on gas stoves ands grills outside of the bus and I do need a way to transport 20# cylinders for that or have a propane system in the bus and tap into that for outdoor use.

On my only real trip to date I hauled two 20# cylinders of propane for outdoor use in the unvented luggage bays. I didn't think of it then, but I realize now it was stupid to do so. They either go on the open trailer next time or I come up with a vented place for them in the bus.

As I stated in another post, we have both a 5 burner built in cooktop and a portable induction unit, and having cooked on both gas and electric cooktops in the past, I wouldn't trade for this induction one. This thing cooks faster, it responds WAY faster than even my gas one did, and it is tremendously easier to clean. Another nice feature is a timer that allows me to set how many minutes I want the burner to run, and then it just shuts itself off! How cool is that?!?

I, too, bought AllClad cookware when I bought the cooktop. I tried a cheaper set of cookware, but I found that the AllClad cooked much more evenly and cleaned up a lot better too. My Mother told me (and I always listen to my Mother! ) that you can spend more money up front, and buy a lifetime set of cookware, or you can spend the same amount of money or more, buying cookware throughout your life. I realized that she was still using the cookware she bought when I was a young child, and since she didn't plan on kicking the bucket any time soon, I decided I'd better go ahead and just buy my own set of cookware. My daughter-in-law checked out my AllClad and promtly stated that since she was the only "daughter" so far, she was first in line to inherit mine! Having said this, as stated earlier, if a magnet sticks to the pot, it will work for induction cooking. My griddle and panini pan are both cast iron.

I consider induction units to be the safest way to cook, as they shut themselves off if they get too hot, if someone forgets to turn the burner off, or if the pan is removed from the burner for more than a minute or so. Since the glass is only heated by the conduction of heat from the pan itself, it stays cooler and is less likely to burn someone. In demonstrating the cooktop to friends and family, I can bring a pan of water to a boil, remove it and rest my hand on the glass immediately after. Cool stuff.

I had to import my cooktop from New Zealand, but now they are becoming availble at some very reasonable prices in the U.S. Portable induction units can be had for a song on Ebay. Although I will have gas for cooking in our bus under conversion, I will also likely carry portable induction units with me also. I prefer the induction, but want the freedom from dependence on electricity also. Just my way of doing things, Christy Hicks

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If chased by a bear, you don't need to run faster than the bear, just faster than your companion!

Are you kidding? If I wait long enough, it'll come back in style and I'll be on the forefront of the decorating curve!

Seriously, you'd be amazed at the number of people who, when building a house, choose items that are trendy right now, but they don't realize they'll be stuck with them forever. I try to steer people away from colored tubs, especially whirlpools, and the same with wall mount faucets. Sure, they look cool right now, but it's a major remodel to tear out tile and re-route plumbing to remove a wall mount faucet and get back to a counter mount one.

Everyone wants a pot filler right now, and yes, they are pretty cool. Course, wait a few years till they are a bit grimy and greasy, and they start to drip. People build these 3500 sq ft houses and then get cheap and order faucets off the internet, handing us some no-name, "one of a kind", to mount in the wall. They think we're just put out because they didn't buy an "expensive" faucet from us, when really, we're just trying to save them from headaches when those faucet's finish flakes off or they start leaking. It's one thing to have a faucet drip into a sink. . .but a whole 'nother ball game when it's dripping on your new stove, ha ha. Oh well, that was pretty funny and there's nothing like a good chuckle to start my day. Thanks! Christy Hicks

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If chased by a bear, you don't need to run faster than the bear, just faster than your companion!